New mail order merchant launched

Published: 23 July, 2008

Three former Corney & Barrow (C&B) employees, including ex-sales director Andrew Gordon, have launched a mail order wine company.

Named Private Cellar, it specialises in selling to private and corporate customers, offering an extensive range of wines, the majority of which are sourced directly from the vineyard', according to Laura Taylor, head of marketing (the same job she held at C&B).

The final member of the team is Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW, who previously was a wine buyer at C&B and holds a similar position in the new organisation.

We've very carefully targeted the wine list. Of the 41 wines we currently stock, only two are above 15,' said Taylor. We were offered many, many wines, but we wanted to make sure that, as a new company, we only stock wines we think are really fantastic.' She added that they also are able to offer an extensive range of fine wines source from UK private cellars at reasonable prices'.

A website is up and running (www.privatecellar.co.uk), although it is not yet fully interactive. We have the full wine list and details of the company up there at the moment, but if a customer wants to order, they will still have to pick up the phone,' said Taylor.

Taylor added that one of the main strengths of the company is that when you phone up for advice or to make an order, you will only speak to me, Andrew or Nicola, all of whom have a vast amount of experience'.

The company plans to grow through its current contacts and word of mouth'. We haven't got any aggressive direct mail or telesales stuff planned,' said Taylor. Private Cellar is based in Ely, Cambridgeshire.